Between symbols and logic: the point where thought makes sense

UN4RTificial
Oct 19
9 min read

It's nothing new that you reason through words, images, gestures, and symbols. Reason doesn't hover over things like some kind of omniscient drone; the ground it treads on is semiotic.

Without symbols, there are no concepts; without concepts, there is no comparison; without comparison, there are no choices. And without choices, what we call "reason" becomes merely a reflex, a reaction.

In this article, we will talk a little about the B side of the mind – when symbols interpreted without the action of reason become mere superstition - something that can cost dearly.

You know that course that promises to “unlock your mind ” based on a specific archetype? Well, then.

Let's say these "solutions" are the gourmet versions of the astrological chart and high-stakes decisions. Because the problem isn't, and never has been, not knowing how to interpret symbols, signs, synchronicities...

These things are loose, there are no "tests" built into them, no need to "unlock" them. They don't confront objective reality.

Therefore, those who cannot differentiate metaphor from model, rite from method, and poetry from proof become easy – and cheap – prey for the pedagogy of miracles.

Reason Tramples on Symbols: the obvious that we pretend not to see

Human reason has the need to name, compare, and infer. And all of this requires representations: words, numbers, diagrams, icons, maps…

UN4RT - image of a bald, tattooed woman dressed in black against a background of interconnected symbols and codes

The brain doesn't access the "real" in 4K; it models the stimuli it receives. Symbols are part of these modeled stimuli; they are useful simplifications that allow us to operate without collapse.

The words, in turn, divide the idea of continuity of these symbols into categories: “tree”, “injustice”, “risk”, “good”, “evil”, etc.

The numbers reflect the proportions and rates of these categories. Therefore, it's important not to confuse "10%" with "it always works."

Metaphors create a bridge between the unknown and the known: “time is money”, “the mind is a machine”...

Without all of this, there is no logic, and without logic, there is no verification, and without verification, there is no learning—only a highly valued opinion.

Symbols without the use of Reason: when the map hijacks the territory

Now, when the reverse occurs, when the symbol becomes idolatry, reasoning decides to take a vacation.

The mind becomes the realm of "everything is a symbol"—a slogan that may seem profound, but it serves as the knife that cuts and separates claims from evidence. This is when metaphors become dogmas, myths become operating manuals, and "insights" become excuses to avoid expending energy, leading the mind to seek validation.

Some everyday examples of this:

Popular sayings and jargon that numb thinking : "quantum mindset synergy." In other words, no one has measured anything, but the information is sold as scientific fact.
Courses with an archetypal seal : half a dozen myths rearranged to look like a method.
Guru-speak : "It's not about understanding, it's about feeling." Great for the arts, but terrible for contracts, surgeries, and real public policies—those that are actually pro-people, not pro-candidate/party.

The result of these examples? People deciding where to go with their eyes closed and their hands on the steering wheel.

The Necessary Marriage: Symbols as Hypothesis, Reason as Test

Symbols propose, and reason expounds. The former creates analogies, the latter questions them: "Does this really work when I get out of my head and into the world?"

This is how theories find their ground: the symbol formulates, reason measures, and reality, consequently, responds.

In science, a model is a mathematical symbol. It is valid as long as it predicts.

In law, principles are normative symbols, valid when coherent and consistent with the cases.

In everyday practical life, someone's "good vibe " is a symbol of the accumulation of experiences – which, yes, are fallible – so it's always a good idea to check and question.

If you only have symbols, you end up living in an eternal theater. If you only have reason—without symbols—you end up becoming a conceptual autist, just technicalities that don't speak to anyone.

A safe way for symbols and reason to interact would be:

Metaphor → hypothesis → test → metaphor review.

Beliefs Shape Behavior: Why Your Mind Pulls the Rug Out from under You

Deterministic beliefs (like "I was born this way") are unrealistic ("the universe conspires for me") and illusory ("if I visualized it, therefore it exists"), guiding what you do, avoid, and see. The filter always precedes the fact.

Confirmation bias : You look for symbols, signs that confirm your beliefs and ignore the rest.
Illusion of depth : Vague phrases and popular sayings seem wise. "Reality is energy"—okay, so what? Simply repeating these phrases doesn't make us truly understand them.
Motivational fatalism : ideas of a fixed destiny, "it was written," make nothing your responsibility. Comfortable? Definitely! Unproductive? Also.

This doesn't mean we have to become skeptics, cynics, or nihilists, but rather recognize that the way we name the world alters the world we perceive—and how we act in it.

When “everything is a symbol” becomes an excuse

This phrase is elegant, Instagrammable, and… relatively dangerous. Why?

Checking slips : if everything is subjective interpretation, then nothing can be verifiable.
Sells shortcuts : “you interpreted it correctly, you solved your life”.
It rewards charismatic authorities : whoever decides what the symbol “really” means becomes an oracle, an expert ...

This is how myth-busting methods are born, tools that promise transcendence in 7 steps, and narratives that confuse ritual with results.

Symbol without reason = staging.
Reason without symbol = alienation.

Adults who think for themselves need both.

Language pulls thought and thought returns the favor

Metaphors are not decorations, they are cognitive infrastructures.

“War on drugs” calls for tanks and highlights the first word.
“Public health” calls for more nurses, professionals, and improvements in care systems—which often don't happen in practice but have been promised for years.
“Cutting costs” and “optimizing expenses” may point to the same table, but they lead to different decisions and interpretative views.

To name is to frame.

Framing , which refers to the way the presentation or "frame" of information affects how we perceive and interpret that information. It changes the perceived risk.
Metaphor, when coherent, can suggest a solution before the problem is seen.
Jargon creates tribe and with it, often, blind loyalty and ignorance.

If you don't consciously choose the vocabulary you think with, someone else will definitely do it for you.

Map, compass and terrain

Think about it this way: symbols are maps, reason is the compass, reality is the terrain.

The map gives you the macro vision (metaphors, numbers, words, diagrams, thoughts…).
The compass prevents you from going in circles (knowledge, logical consistency, questioning, analysis, testing, review, action…).
The terrain teaches you what the map doesn’t show – the map is not the territory – (friction, problems, inconsistencies, injustices, atrocities, real people acting…).

Adult and conscious navigation works in a triangular fashion. This means that:

Using only the map will cause you to crash headfirst into a tree.
Using only the compass makes you walk in a straight line until you fall into an abyss.
Using only the terrain makes you just survive randomly, not adapted.

The fetish for the “ineffable”: when the veil becomes a product

“It can’t be explained, it can only be felt.”

Have you ever heard that phrase? Yeah, me too.

The aesthetic experience may, indeed, be ineffable, but the decision that affects the lives of others cannot. What is beautiful to feel must be translatable to the minimum necessary so that it can be communicated, debated, and audited... Otherwise, we wouldn't have a complex vocal apparatus and vocabulary.

If something cannot be explained in simple language, we can come up with three possible hypotheses:

The phenomenon is complex and you still don't understand what it means;
The phenomenon is simple and you are complicating it to make it seem profound;
You don't understand what ineffable means but you pretend you do.

In all cases, the responsibility is to facilitate understanding and be sincere, not to mystify it.

The labyrinth of promises

In recent years, especially, we have seen the constant growth of the lucrative market of “pocket symbols”, of books and courses that “reprogram beliefs in 72 hours”, “awareness tools that manifest abundance”, methods that “break your limits” with half a dozen archetypes and a few analogies.

This works—very well—for sales because it reduces internal work by replacing it with heroic slogans . However, real, practical life requires comparing explanations, measuring effects, accepting mistakes... Because without this, the symbol becomes performative self-help: cathartic, motivating, and sterile when it comes to anticipating potential problems, correcting behaviors, and acting accordingly.

Productive Paradoxes: The Refined Interplay Between Myth and Method

A coherent myth used in the “wrong” way may inspire, but it will deliver nothing.
A coherent method used with a “wrong” myth works, but no one follows it.
When method and myth are in harmony, meaning mobilizes and verification enhances them.

Real ideas, serious science, and the arts live in this friction, but in a constructive way: meaning is used to instigate and encourage, and metrics are used to correct for better results.

Tribes, symbols and the separatist syndrome

Symbols bring people together. They're great for creating a sense of belonging, but terrible when they become weapons of segregation. The algorithm loves this drama because outrage keeps its attention. And your attention is profitable, it moves millions.

Is there a defense for this? Yes, intellectual humility.

Being aware that the symbol you love may be your favorite, but it is just a clipping, a tiny piece of the macro and is not the real thing – it is what you accept as such.

People who can't deal with or sustain nuances different from their own become mere supporters, pawns in the great game. And supporters and pawns don't debate; they merely defend ideas—even if illusory and unfair—like human shields.

Sanity – without miracles and absolutisms

Translate the metaphor itself: What operational hypothesis does it suggest?
Ask about the predictions: What specifically should happen if the idea is coherent? Can this idea be considered true?
Look for flaws: in what context might this not work?
Separate aesthetics from effectiveness: something can be beautiful but inefficient, ugly but effective…
Update your information without drama: if the data changes, so does the opinion.

Simple.

None of this will turn you into a robot. It will prevent you from becoming an extra in other people's stories.

Get the anti-deception vaccine

Laughing at our own certainties is detoxifying. Irony isn't about gratuitous cruelty; it's simply cognitive hygiene. It punctures bubbles without asking permission, exposing empty ideas, reminding us that these ideas don't always have dignity—but that people do.

If your most absolute truth, your favorite thesis/explanation/certainty, can handle a joke, that's a great sign.

Synthesis

We think with words and images. This helps us "enter" the social world, but sometimes we believe in ideas that seem beautiful and forget to see if they actually work in practice. It would be better to use both: reasoning and testing. This way, we learn not to fall for tricks.

A metaphorical slap in the face

If you're the type who hides behind metaphors to avoid having to face facts, that's fine, but know that that's not depth, it's laziness.

Now, if you are one of those who despise symbols, who think that only “data and facts count”, that’s fine too, but it’s interesting that you are aware that you are flirting with inhumanity.

Grow cognitively—symbols serve reason, and reason disciplines symbols. Those who sell symbolic shortcuts without measuring anything are selling you fantasies—and you're buying them. Those who sell meaningless numbers are also selling cruelty—even if unconsciously.

It is preferable, in my opinion, to choose to be an adult .

After all, reason needs symbols to represent, and symbols need reason to be accountable. Between the myth that inspires and the method that corrects, there exists a difficult but fertile dialogue—the only one that transforms belief into applicable knowledge, intention into results, and rhetoric into accountability.

There are no miracles, there is work: thinking, formulating, questioning, testing, adjusting, believing, acting…

The rest? It's just a smokescreen.

So, if this content has touched your nerves in a helpful way—or not—feel free to gift us a coffee on the Buy Me a Coffee platform. And if you'd like more texts and content like this—straightforward, sugar-free, and explicit—just head over to our UN4RT backstage . See you there!